Amenthal

Constructed of native stone quarried near the site, this home was built in 1882-83 in Pittsburg (later annexed by Blanco) by Irish craftsman Laurence H. Wall. The total construction cost was $1,000. John Wilson Baines and his wife Ruth Ament Huffman (later grandparents of Lyndon Baines Johnson) purchased the home in 1887 and named it Amenthal. The house changed ownership several times after the Baines family left in 1904. Andrew J. Wagner purchased it in 1918, two years before he was elected county sheriff. The house remained in the Wagner family until 1943. (1990)